Boavista House by Pablo Pita Architects
21/09/2016.
[Oporto] Portugal
metalocus, LAURA CENTELLAS
metalocus, LAURA CENTELLAS
Description of the project by Pablo Pita Architects
Boavista is a single-family house refurbishment in a well-known Porto street with the same name. The plot was a last century house in an advanced state of ruin facing one of the busiest streets, but offering a garden in the interior of the block.
The width limitations of these old constructions invite the dwelling to extend its boundaries to the inner courtyard. With this, a generous area is provided, setting the entire social area through one contiguous space. The kitchen extension connects to the garden, assuming a crucial role in the relation with the exterior. A wheeled wooden island allows a flexible use of the space. A skin of wooden shutters characterize the extension façade and set different layers of shade.
In the center a light core is settled, being the stairs developed in different stages with different relations with this void. Therefore the theme of the skylight is revisited, exploring one of the main features of these old constructions and enhancing its importance on the structure of these typologies. The height of the skylight defines an unusual residential scale allowing visual relations between the three floors.
Pablo Pita, is a Porto-based architecture partnership between Pablo Rebelo and Pedro Pita established in 2010. Their different working background allows them to take in charge every challenge, seeking the balance between the strong-concepted approach and the filigreed intervention that any site demands. That pursuit results in a nonrestrictive study covering every art form, always heading towards to the client needs.
While depuration and assertiveness are recurring paths in PABLO PITA work, the process begins in the overlapping of the context and the concept. This two dimensions result in a two-sided approach that assures a transversal study of each scope. From one point the pursuit of a strong idea that can be summed up in a gesture. From the other the awareness of the site, understanding and enhancing its characteristics.
Pablo Rebelo (Caracas, 1983) and Pedro Pita (Porto, 1983) both graduated in Architecture at the University of Porto, Portugal.